Bonds Not Broken
by Teslyn
Summary: [editingreposting] Naruto left Konoha years ago. In a final attempt to sever all ties with the village, he writes to Sasuke one last time. But Sasuke was always a stubborn brat. [r&r]
1. Severing Ties

**Name: Bonds Not Broken: Severing Ties**

**Disclaimer: **Don't own, don't own, don't own, don't own. And today is _not_ opposite day. Nudge, nudge.

**Summary**: Naruto left Konoha years ago. Now, in an attempt to sever all ties that still exist, he writes to Sasuke one last time.

-

_Sasuke_

_When I stop and think about it, I realize that we had so much in common when we were both members of Team 7. We were both driven by our needs to fulfill our dreams. We both had something that we wanted; something that se__t us apart from everyone else. And y__et, as I look back, I realize that you had m__ore of a reason to leave Konoha, more of a reason to turn renegade__Don't try to deny it, because you'll just end up looking stupid__. But if this is true, __then why are you settled down, an ANBU captain, father, and husband? And why am I the S-Class missing-nin? My hands are stain__ed with the blood of innocents; __I feel that our fates should have been swapped._

_You had a psychopath brother who killed every last Uchiha… except for you. You were an avenger, driven by your desire to kill Uchiha Itachi, the one who took everything from you. All you wanted to do was kill him; restoring your clan__, as we both know, was just an after__thought.__ But there you are; living in Konoha with little Uchiha brats._

_ I was the unwitting container of the Kyuubi, feared and hated for something I didn't do, something I didn't want. Something I had no sway over. I was driven by the desire for attention, to be noticed. To be known, not as the evil demon Kyuubi, but as someone respected. __And here I am, in a secret hideout with __a group of deadly nuke-nins. _

_You became a shinobi because you were a male Uchiha. I became a shinobi so I could become the respected Hokage. Your success was shadowed by your brother. My success… well, in the academy years,__ we both know I didn't quite have any__. We both wanted to be noticed; we pushed ourselves so we would be known to the world. Yet you wanted your power to defeat your brother. I wanted mine so I would be respected. _

_We had so many similarities… so why did we hate each other? We were rivals, enemies, even, and neither of us realized that deep down, we were best friends. Well, not until you left for Orochimaru. Which brings me to that. I was shocked and hurt that you turned your back on our village; turned your back on Team 7… and you turned your back on _me. _And I realize, if we had understood each other, and our similarities, none of this would have happened._

_If I had known that your brother had murdered every last member of your clan, known the reason behind your cold exterior, perhaps I wouldn't have seen you as a cold, obstinate, stuck-up jerk __that__ didn't deserve Sakura's love. Perhaps if you had known __that the only reason Itachi ignored you in favor of attempting to kidnap me was the Kyuubi,__ you wouldn't have been driven to seek Orochimaru for power. Perhaps, if we had known this about each other, we could have been__ better friends_

_You were an avenger; cold, desiring only to kill Itachi. I sought attention, desiring respect because I didn't understand why people hated me. I never knew my parents. Yours were murdered, and before that t__hey didn't truly acknowledge__ you because you were shadowed by the Uchiha child prodigy. We both grew up parentless, in a way._

_We were similar, yet utterly different. Then why am I what I am, and why are you what you are?_

_ The answer__, I believe,__ is simple; We both changed because o__f Orochimaru. You realized, after__ we managed to save you fro__m becoming __Orochimaru's vessel, __that restoring your clan was more important than extracting revenge on it. You __began to question your lust for vengeance:__ what was the point of avenging your clan, if in avenging it, you ended up destroying it as well? You realized that eventually Itachi would die; but if you stopped your mad quest for power, stopped trying to take down someone so obviously more powerful than yourself, the Uchiha clan would outlive the m__an who had wanted to destroy it, and you would win._

_And when we saved you, I realized that__ all__ Konoha wanted__ was__ their precious little Uchiha back; and if I died w__hile returning you, well, kudos for us__, because they had hit two birds with one stone. They got you back, and the Kyuubi was gone. They would never __have __accept__ed__ me as Hokage__. I__ realized that, and there was nothing left in Konoha for me. So I turned to the only place I could; the Akatsuki, a group of criminals that didn't belong in the villages that they had been born in. _We_ d__on'__t belong__ anywhere, really__, an__d we__ know it. __ More, we don'__t care, because we_ _turned our backs on our villages and started working for our own purposes. _

_In__ the beginning, the people of Konoha loved their last Uchiha because you were an Uchiha, yet you ignored it. The people of Konoha ignored me because of the Kyuubi, yet I wanted their approval. You couldn't understand why they wouldn't leave you alone. I couldn't understand why the left me alone. Similar, yet utterly different._

_Then, after our revelations, you returned to the love of Konoha, and this time, you embraced it. You got your family, your recognition, and I got mine. You finally understood and accepted, as did I. Similar, yet utterly different. _

_And now__, we lead different lifestyles. You wanted revenge even if it cost your life; you ignored the people around you. I wanted to help people, to be respected by them, yet they ignored me. In the end, though, we both got what we wanted, if in a left-hand sort of way. You got your revenge; Uchiha is not dead. I got mine; if I couldn't get love, respect, and recognition as Hokage, I got fear and recognition as Akatsuki. _

_Sasuke…__ don't be the idiotic bastard you are and attempt to find__ m__e. All my ties with Konoha have been broken__ now,__ and are far beyond repair._

_-Uzumaki _

Naruto set the pen down, rereading his letter to his ex-best friend. With this letter, Naruto could finally forget his past, truly forget it this time. He had no connection to Konoha, nor Konoha to him – With this letter, he had finally succeeded in severing all bonds with his former village. He had embraced what it meant to be a missing nin – except for his Akatsuki comrades, Uzumaki Naruto was utterly alone.

-_end_

Reviews make me happy. :D

**-Teslyn**


	2. Not Willing

**Name: **Not Willing

**Disclaimer: **I own Naruto. I am not a pathological liar. I swear. … Okay fine, I don't own Naruto. But I will, someday. Believe it! (…)

**-**

There had been some – no, not some, a lot – of argument on whether or not it was logical for an ex-missing-nin to become the Sixth Hokage, because there was the question of loyalty.

Although Uchiha Sasuke had led many successful missions as ANBU captain, and had almost died protecting the village more than once, people were still dubious about how much he truly loved Konoha. They questioned his loyalty to Konoha – he had left the village for power, returned after only because he was forced by his ex-best friend, disappeared for a two years, and then returned with a rather violent wife by the name of Karin.

He settled down with his wife, and the Uchiha part of Konoha was returned to him in preparation for the little Uchiha kids that were probably going to end up as arrogant and annoying as Sasuke himself.

It surprised many people when Tsunade gave Sasuke a full pardon, but nobody could doubt Sasuke had changed since Naruto left Konoha in favor of Akatsuki.

For one thing, the stick up his ass got considerably shorter. He opened up sometimes. Mostly just in his wife's presence, but every now and then enjoyed reminiscing about the good days with Sakura and Kakashi over a cup of sake. (And those reunions almost always ended up with all three of them going to visit the memorial stone on which Naruto's name was now inscribed with Sakura bawling, Sasuke brooding, silent tears streaming down his cheeks, and Kakashi staring stony-faced, beating himself up over Obito's death and Naruto's defection.)

But being an Uchiha, his trademark poker face and "I Don't Care" attitude was pretty much flawless. He could pull on the mask and slip behind a veil of indifference as skillfully as always. The only difference now was that he truly cared.

-

The arguments that Tsunade-sama had held with the Council her choosing the Uchiha could hardly have been called civil. After all, she had threatened to bash their heads in and then replace them if they continued to give her grief over Sasuke after the third assembly.

Though a few council members continued to fight Tsunade over the decision, the rest of the people realized that the Fifth had chosen, and that was that. (They were also aware of Tsunade's super-human strength, but that is neither here nor there.) After seeing their effort was futile and would do more harm than good, they resorted voicing their arguments outside of Tsunade's earshot to save themselves from a good tongue-lashing.

-

The day after his inauguration, Sasuke had spent a good deal of time alternating between cursing Tsunade for choosing him and the paperwork on his desk. Well, it was really just the paperwork, but it was really all Tsunade's fault that it was his to deal with. And Naruto's, but… _no, I'm not going to think about that now._

On the second day of Hokage-ship, he actually got some work done. _Some. _

The third day, he brooded. It was something he was very good at, seeing has he had had a lot of time when he was younger to perfect the skill. Besides, brooding held his attention much longer than the funny-looking Kage Hat did.

On the fourth day, he alternated between getting some paperwork done and brooding. He thought about how much more Naruto deserved to be sitting at this desk than him and how much better a Hokage the blonde would've made.

The next day, Tsunade returned to the village to get supplies (she had retreated into the mountains like Jiraiya. Not with him, though, or the old pervert would become a regular in the hospital)

The sixth day marked a break from the monotonous routine that Sasuke had already slipped into. A small bird pecked at his window until he opened, it, dropped a scroll on his desk, and knocked the mountain of important and not-so-important documents off the table. It pecked the cursing Hokage's nose, and flew out the window before promptly blowing up.

Sasuke picked up the letter and stared at it, more than slightly wary. Checking it for all sorts of nasty surprises – poisons, traps, the usual – he opened it and skimmed it.

Blinking away tears rapidly, he went back and re-read it as memories flashed through his mind's eye.

Their first day…

_…A jounin isn't going to fall for a plain old booby trap like that._

Their first real mission climbing the trees and then fighting Haku…

_…I refuse to lose to you, Sasuke!_

Their fight on the roof top

_…You won't even touch my forehead_…

The countless memories presented themselves in Sasuke's mind, and they all centered around one person. Naruto. The Kyuubi. Akatsuki member and murderer of countless people.

The letter told Sasuke not to seek out Naruto in a typical Naruto-like way that made Sasuke's miss the obnoxious blond.

Sasuke couldn't let Naruto go, would never get over it. The Uzumaki had never let Sasuke go; he had kept going until Sasuke had returned to Konoha. Sasuke felt like he had betrayed Naruto all these years, not attempting to bring him back at all costs. He was starting to realize how Kakashi felt about Obito. How Jiraiya felt about Orochimaru.

Of course, now, he couldn't go after Naruto himself. He was the Hokage. How it must have hurt Naruto that no one had been sent after him. But then, he realized Naruto didn't care anymore. Naruto had broken all ties with his past. But still, Sasuke held on.

And that was why he even bothered sending a letter back. It less thoughtful and ominous-sounding than Naruto's by far – no, it was more forceful and, as Naruto would probably put it, ass-holeish .

_Naruto –_

_Come back to Konoha __you idiot of a deadlast._

_We are waiting for you. The Kyuubi is a trivial matter now – Tsunade intended for you to be the Sixth Hokage – your dream, Nar__uto. Don't run away from it, deadlast__. You showed me the light, Naruto, so don't be a hypocrite and forsake that_

_What about your precious people in Konoha?__ Come back. __And that isn't a request._

_ Sasuke _

Filled with bittereness, regret, and sorrow, Sasuke Uchiha, the Sixth Hokage, folded his letter and sent it by a personal pigeon. As he watched the bird fly away with the letter tied to its leg, he came to a firm resolution. He was going after Naruto, to give it one last try. The Kyuubi vessel deserved it, after all the years he had dedicated his life to Konoha. He may have severed all ties, but Sasuke wasn't willing to let go. He never would be willing.

**-**_end_

**-Teslyn **


	3. Frayed

**Name: **Frayed

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto.

-

"I don't care if it's too dangerous—it's our _Hokage_ on the line! Send out three ANBU squads, _immediately_!" Tsunade yelled at the Council. She had returned from her cottage in the mountain to pay Sasuke a visit, answer any questions, and ask him sweetly and innocently how the paperwork was coming along, only to find everything in complete chaos.

The Hokage had disappeared without notice, leaving only a short missive that read "Naruto".

Sasuke was intelligent. He knew that if the ANBU caught up with him, they'd drag him back. So he left a clone that, five hours after his departure, called an assembly of the Council, gave them the letter, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

And then everything descended into chaotic panic. And that's when Tsunade came in. Years of being Hokage prepared her for a situation like this. She had immediately started issuing orders, running roughshod over protests from the Council members, and all the cool stuff Hokages do during pandemonium. Which was pretty much anything she wanted.

And the only thing she regretted was not being able to go with the ANBU to find Sasuke before it became necessary to save him. That was the objective of the mission, but Tsunade seriously doubted that the teams would reach Sasuke in time, so she sent Sakura with one team, Shizune with another, and prayed to the gods that the two together could heal Sasuke.

-

His eyes blurred with tears as he reflected on his past. _Emotions weaken a __shinobi__…_ At least, that's what he always thought. Now, though, he finally realized that Naruto was right in being full of emotion, and he was wrong, trying to become an emotionless weapon. Humans, shinobi or not, were not meant to live that way.

His emotions were the strength that Naruto drew upon when he was out of energy. Sasuke realized that the only reason he couldn't defeat Gaara that day was because he didn't care enough about what he was protecting. Naruto did.

Before he returned to Konoha, Sasuke could count the number of times he had used his emotions as a deadly weapon on two fingers– saving Naruto in their fight with Haku, when he summoned stamina he didn't know he possessed, and in the Forest of Death, for Sakura. Just twice. Since his return, since Naruto's defection and rescuing the foul-mouthed Karin from Orochimaru's loving (ha!) care, he had been driven by his emotions countless times, and he never failed.

And now his emotions drove him on this mission. Naruto was the first person to see Sasuke as himself, not just a pretty-boy or the last leaf-nin bearing the Uchiha's bloodline Naruto had penetrated Sasuke's walls, and carved his own personal niche Uchiha's heart, become one of Sasuke's very few precious people without either of them noticing.

And before Sasuke had realized how important Naruto was to him, how much he meant, Naruto had abandoned his niche, and Sasuke could feel the emptiness without him. For the first time in years, Sasuke felt alone again. No, he never really felt alone in the Sound village – how could he when he knew Naruto still cared, Naruto was still looking to bring him back?

It was a good two hours after traveling at high-speed that Sasuke realized he had absolutely no idea where he was going. And it took him less than a second to realize he didn't really care as long as his path led him to Naruto.

Approximately an four hours after departure, he realized he wasn't alone. More, he recognized the chakra signature of the person who shadowed him.

_Damn! Who would've guessed the Akatsuki __were__ this close to Konoha? _He thought, hands flicking through the seals for Chidori. He barely had enough time mold chakra into a half-powered lightning edge before he turned and slammed it into Naruto's oncoming Rasengan.

He hadn't even heard Naruto – his old friend had indeed improved much since joining the Akatsuki. Unprepared, his Chidori only half-charged, Naruto's attack sent Sasuke flying into a tree as the weak chirping of a thousand birds faded out. It was pitiful, that Naruto could take him down with surprise and just one jutsu.

Sasuke felt he should have been able to put up more of a fight as he struggled to stay conscious. Naruto lifted him off the ground by his collar, bringing him to eyelevel.

"You sure got tall," Sasuke managed weakly. Naruto sneered.

"I received your letter, Sasuke-_kun_." Sasuke decided he hated the way Naruto said his name.

"My last gift to Konoha – I'll leave you alive, Rokudaime. But next time, Konoha can go the hell, and their Hokage with them." Nartuo's cold words cut him, but he had little time to reflect on them as his old teammate slammed him into the tree behind him. Leaning against the tree for support, Sasuke sank into darkness as the ground rushed up to meet him.

His bond with Naruto was fraying. But someday, he would bring Naruto back. Deep down inside himself, he was sure of it.

-

"We'll have to move, Naruto-kun, if your little Hokage friend could find us here, yeah." Deidara said calmly.

The fox in question merely nodded.

"Wasn't that a little harsh, yeah? Did you see the look on his face?" Deidara asked, his words slow in coming, unsure of what reaction they would get.

"I hate Konoha, Deidara. I hate everyone in it – every last person. If the Akatsuki and Konoha ever get themselves into a war, you won't find me second-guessing myself." Naruto responded harshly. "After all, they shut me out first. I have no ties left to the village." He added the last as an afterthought, a final justification as if he didn't have enough already.

Deidara nodded, understanding. After all, hadn't it been the same with his own village? How many times had he attacked and killed Stone shinobi? And how many times had he hesitated?

"Let's go then, yeah." Naruto nodded, and with that, he disappeared with his partner, to another Akatsuki base hidden in the outskirts of another land.

-_end_

**-****Teslyn**


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